Justin Burd
Tribe One Customs
www.tribeonecustoms.com
110 Main Street
Oak Hill, West Virginia
304-663-8994
tribeonecustoms@yahoo.com

My love for concrete started when I was 17 building Olympic sized swimming pools. I set aside the concrete and plaster for awhile to pursue my passion for whitewater kayaking and rock climbing all over the country and to different parts of the world. Eventually this led me to the New River Gorge in West Virginia where I began missing a creative outlet. A friend turned me onto the Buddy Rhodes book on building concrete countertops and I was hooked. Shortly after that I formed Tribe One Customs.

I simply love the Buddy Rhodes material; the way it feels in my hands, how it flows through details of a mold like a river carving through a canyon. I love creating an idea and forming it into a physical reality, and I am truly inspired by a challenge. My work tends to reflect a lot of natural elements. Water, rock, metal, and wood all play a role in my designs. There are so many great materials available to use, it seems boring to limit yourself to just one.

The obsession of concrete has taught me about the material as well as myself. Pay attention to detail, have patience, always try something new, and use the "artisan eye" to turn vision into reality.